Fully Committed

Well, I'm reading 2 chronicles again. I'm actually reading through the Bible for the 2nd time and am amazed how much more I have gotten out of it this second time through. If you don't have a good commentary, GET ONE! It has made all the difference in understanding for me. However, 2 Chronicles for the most part retells 2 Kings and it is kind of boring me. With that said, I actually thought this morning about skipping on ahead to Ezra, but decided against it. much Glad I did, because I found some very good nuggets of information in my reading this morning.

First, I love all of the verses in the O.T. about seeking God and finding Him. I have actually started a list of all of these different verses - there are alot! So, 2 Chron. 15:2 "...The Lord is with you when you are with Him. If you SEEK Him, He will be FOUND by you, but if you FORSAKE Him, He will forsake you." And then again, vs. 12 "They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul." Vs. 15 "...They sought God eagerly, and He was found by them..." Wow. I love those verses. I don't know about you, but I am actively seeking Him. I am eagerly seeking Him. I want to be found by Him!

Second, this verse really stood out to me. 2 Chron. 16: 9 "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are FULLY committed to Him..." So from this verse we can gather that a) He wants our FULL and TOTAL committment; and b) He will strengthen our hearts once He has our full and total committment. Isn't that awesome? Just picture God sitting up there scanning the whole earth (I picture Him with binoculars, but that is kind of silly, I know) for His children whose hearts are Fully committed to seeking Him! Can't you just see Him, looking from left to right "...nope, nope, nope, Oh, wait....there's one...bam! Heart strengthened...nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, Oh, wait! Another one! bam! Heart strengthened! I really hope when His scan gets to me He says "Bam! Heart strengthened!" How about you?

"Come with me and see my Zeal for the Lord."

ZEAL - that is my word for the day - it struck me while I was doing my morning devotion. I was reading 2 Kings 10:16 "Come with me and see my ZEAL for the Lord." The definition of zeal is: eager and ardent interest in the pursuit of something; fervor; and the synonyms are: enthusiasm, passion, ardor.

Wow. How many people do you know that are "zealous" for the Lord? I know some, but the majority of people I know are FAR from this. They don't even THINK about God. Ususally only when they need something. This makes me so sad. I was just like this a couple of years ago. God was certainly nowhere near the top of my priority list. But, through a series of difficult times, I started turning to God and His Word. It is funny how God does use bad things to bring us to Him. But, Rom. 8:28 says, "in ALL things God works for the GOOD of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." I really wouldn't trade any of the bad things that have happened over the last couple of years to go back to a life without God as my #1. I have come to depend on Him and His Word so much. His Word has become my "guidebook" and my "sword".

Now, having said all of this, I feel like I am growing more and more zealous for the Lord. I would love nothing more than to sit around and talk about Jesus and the Bible all day. The problem is that this makes a lot of people very uncomfortable. They think I'm a little crazy, I think. I can just hear "oh....she has gotten very religious..." What's funny is people can run around with sports team shirts, watches, car flags, cheeseheads, etc., and nobody thinks anything about it. Also, people can scream, cheer, and chant for their favorite athlete, movie star, singer, etc., and that is A-Okay. But, are we going around screaming, cheering, and chanting for the LORD of the Universe? Our God, our Savior? Our Healer, our Deliverer? For the One who gave HIS LIFE so that we may have eternal salvation?

The enemy, satan, is doing a great job in the world today of distracting people from the Truth. We have so many "things" to keep us occupied: computers, cell phones, everybody working all the time to pay the debts we all think we "have to have", etc. I hear a lot of people use the excuse that they just don't have time to read the Bible or even go to church. But, I think these same people have all the time in the world to check email, send texts, watch American Idol, watch sports, etc. I can't imagine what God must be thinking. He is probably so disgusted with us by now that He is seriously reconsidering the "flood" promise. The only thing is, Christ came and died for US.

As I have been reading in the Old Testament, it has hit me hard that here these people had actual signs of God - like fire, clouds, His voice, burning bushes, walls falling down, huge rivers being parted, etc., and they still fell away from worshiping God over and over. He actually dwelled WITH them! Just look at Adam and Eve.....they were in Paradise! Look at the Israelites.....God delivered them from slavery in Egypt and then they still grumbled and complained while in the desert. None of the Old Testament people had computers, cell phones, televisions, etc., to even distract them from God and they still turned from Him and worshiped other gods. So, how much harder for us to focus on God and not put any other idols before Him.

I hope no one thinks I'm casting judgement here. I am just as big of a sinner as the next. God views all sin equally. I, also, spend a lot of time checking emails, texting, watching t.v., etc. God knows all of our thoughts, He knows our hearts - we cannot hide anything from Him. God has taken me on this incredible journey the last couple of years, however, and boy how my "zeal" for God has changed. I didn't used to have hardly any, and I can only hope that I will continue to be more "zealous" for the Lord. But, the key to all of this, is that God has been working in me. I haven't really done anything. The only thing I did was make a decision to spend a little bit of time every morning reading the Bible and praying. At first, it was really very boring. Now, 2 years and 3 mos. later, I can't wait to dig into my Bible and learn more about my Savior. Phil. 2:13 says "For God is working in you, giving you the desire and power to do what pleases Him."

Baseball Season Begins

Well, this weekend was the opening weekend for our family for BASEBALL Season. Tanner, my 13 yr. old had a school game at 4:00 on Friday in Deer Creek, and then Sat., Macy (5 - 1/2) had a 10:00 soccer game; at the same time, Tanner had a 9:00 baseball game and Carson (12) had a 10:30 game. Then both boys had 6:30 games, but true to any tourney, they both started late - so we weren't home from the ballpark until about 9:30. The time change made getting up and going to church yesterday morning extremely difficult, but we did manage. And then we had baseball games from 1:30 until about 9:00 last night, because we kept winning! That's the crazy thing about winning........you are there the latest! So, sometimes its kind of nice to be the loser and get to go home early, but don't tell anyone else in my family I said that. Really, you can tell by this schedule, that we need another parent or two in the mix. Having four kids all playing sports is tough. Now I can kind of understand polygamy. As long as I could pick the wife........and only if she was willing to cook, clean, and drive kids around all day. Not sure why anyone in their right mind would sign up for that gig! It is kind of funny when you consider that polygamy doesn't go the other way. Notice there is no sane woman that wants more than ONE husband - Ha. Ha! That's because they are as much or more work than the kiddos! Sorry, all you husbands that might be reading this, but it is TRUE! I really am kidding about the whole polygamy thing - just a joke!

My husband and I had some good laughs while watching the 7 yr. old parents and coaches go crazy over their games. Now that our kids are older, we look back at how competitive we were when they were so little and we just laugh. You definitely get wiser as you get older. I used to be so competitive and thought it was such a big deal - win or lose. Now, I am just so grateful that my children are healthy and God has given them the ability to play sports at all! This knowledge has come through watching some of my friends' kids have illnesses that prevent them from playing. Last year there was a 12 yr. old boy at one of my son's games that was in a wheelchair with both arms and legs amputated (from elbow down and knees down) - He was in a uniform and cheering on his team. We found out that just the year before he had been one of the star players on their team and during the year (post season) he had gotten strep throat. They put him on antibiotics but apparently it was a different strain of strep that started attacking his main organs - heart, lungs, liver - so they had to give him something that directed the strep bacteria to his limbs, knowing that they would have to amputate. But this was the only way to save his life. Wow. To go from being a perfectly healthy, even athletic, 12 yr. old to a quadraplegic. Can you imagine how heartbreaking? But there he was, in his wheelchair, cheering all his teammates on! It brings tears to my eyes even thinking about it. That is why I am not so competitive anymore. Who cares if we win or lose? All that matters is that my kids are healthy and happy and able to play at all. I'm sure that the Lord has a very special plan for that little boy and his family. I bet they have touched so many lives and don't even know it. I know that they have definitely changed my outlook on life!

Well, it's funny, now that I'm a "blogger", I am constantly thinking about things I should blog about. Unfortunately, I just don't have the time......I'd like to say something about my profile. I have on there that Christ has taken the #1 priority spot in my life. I feel like I should expound on that.

My life has taken some completely unexpected turns in the last couple of years. I think nobody is prepared for just how hard "life" can be. The really wondrous thing is that God uses all of the hard things in life to bring us closer to Him. In retrospect, I wish that I had just been constantly seeking the Lord and then maybe wouldn't have had to go through some of the circumstances I've gone through. However, some of them were completely out of my control, and obviously we are going to go through hard things in life - that's just life! There is sadness, sickness, death, and a multitude of other things that will happen to EVERYONE! All as a result of SIN! Thanks Adam and Eve!

Recently, my mother was in the hospital with a marathon (45 days and I think 25 were in intensive care)"should-be-dead" scenario and I have never relied so completely on God's grace and His Awesome Word! My Bible became my constant companion, my guidebook, my source of comfort, and definitely my "Sword". My brother and I were constantly texting each other Bible verses to comfort one another. These kinds of things are so hard while you are going through them, but it is amazing the way your relationship with the Lord grows if you lean on Him. I am just so grateful that I have had Jesus by my side during all of my recent trying circumstances.

However, I have noticed that when I am NOT in the middle of a "trial" in my life, my focus on God seems to waver some. I still get up in the morning and do my devotion; I still pray; I still go to church and talk about God with my friends, BUT other things seem to creep into my life that take up time and attention.

So, with all this being said, what I am trying to get at is that I WANT Christ to be my number one priority. I said that He is in my profile, but that is not ALWAYS the case. However, that is what I hope will happen. Just in the last 2 years, I cannot believe the difference in my relationship with the Lord. Before, we were just casual acquaintances......you know, I said "hi" to Him at church on Sunday and usually before meals throughout the week (or if I really NEEDED something), but over the last couple of years I'd say we have moved up to truly great friends. In fact, there is a verse, John 15:15 that says "I no longer call you servants, because servants do not know their master's business. Instead I have called you friends, for everything I learned from the Father I have made known to you." The more that I get to know God through His Word, the better friends we become.

Ravens and a Widow

Well.....I was doing my devotion this morning and came upon the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 17:1-24. It really struck me how God loves to use the most impossible ways to show His Sovereignty. In this story, God tells Elijah that there is going to be a drought for the next few years and that he needs to go tell mean ol' King Ahab that news. (Ch. 16 told us that King Ahab was the most evil king so far...) So, Elijah tells Ahab the bad news and then the Lord tells him he better run and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. Then he tells Elijah that he will be able to drink from the brook and that the ravens will bring him food. I don't know about you, but I would have a hard time believing that some bird was going to be responsible for FEEDING me! But, Elijah did what the Lord told him, and sure enough, every morning and night RAVENS brought him bread and meat. Wow. What you might not know is that ravens are notorious for not even caring for their own young! So, if they won't even worry about feeding their own babies, it's pretty remarkable that they would bring food to this strange guy twice a day for 3 years, huh?

Now, if that is not enough to show God's absolute Sovereignty, he tells Elijah to go from the Ravine to Zarephath where a WIDOW will provide him with food. First the ravens, now a widow. Back then the widows were the poorest people around and would be the first to run out of food during a famine. But, once again, Elijah trusted the Lord and made the 90 MILE trek to find this widow that was apparently going to feed him. Don't you know that Elijah must've been thinking "Lord, can't you find me a widow that is like 5 miles away.....90? That'll take me FOREVER!" Well, that's what I would've been thinking anyways! So he finds this widow and asks her to bring him a drink which she does. Then he asks her for some bread and she tells him that all she has left is a tiny bit of olive oil and a handful of flour, and that, in fact, she was going to make that into bread for her and her son as their last meal because then they would surely die from starvation. Well, Elijah tells her to not be afraid and to go ahead and make the bread for him, her son, and herself, and that the Lord would never let the flour or olive oil run out until the drought ended. So, the widow does what he asks. Verse 12 shows that the widow did believe in his God. Now that took some faith on the widow's part, huh? To give the rest of what she has to some strange man........But, sure enough, they never ran out of food. God did provide!

Ch. 17 ends with the widow's son dying (not from starvation, but it doesn't say why), and Elijah prays over the boy PERSISTENTLY and he is actually raised from the dead. This happens to be the first recorded incident in Scripture of one being raised from the dead. Wow.

So, isn't that whole story truly remarkable? I truly pray that God will give me the faith of Elijah and that widow. It really shows me just how shallow my own faith is. And I just love how God uses two of the most improbable sources to take care of Elijah during the drought/famine: RAVENS and a WIDOW. Now that, my friends, shows God's Absolute Sovereignty.

Okay, now my real 1st post!

Wow......Never thought I'd be in the "world of blogging"..........But, I'm actually pretty excited about it! I've been thinking for awhile about the Jerry Maguire movie and how he comes out with his infamous "mission statement". I've decided that I need my own mission statement!

Matthew 5:16 says "Let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your God in Heaven." Wow. When you stop and think about that verse it is humbling to know that your actions, words, deeds, etc., might be what influences a person to accept Christ or not. I am working really hard on remembering that verse throughout my daily activities. The funny thing is, it is easier to "let my light shine" around everybody but my own family! And by "my family" I mean my four kiddos and my husband. Why is it so much easier to be kind, compassionate, loving, patient, etc., with everybody but those you are closest to? God has been kind of letting me know lately that they are exactly the ones I need to be showing God's love to!

So, I am working on that. However, I fail just about on a daily basis. For example, last week I got a call from the playground "duty monitor" at my 7-yr.-old's school. Luckily, she is a friend of mine, or this call would've been even more horrifying. Seems as if my 7-yr-old, Maddox, (he is the youngest of three brothers and also has a sister 19 mos. younger than him) has been involved in some "bullying" incidents. Now this is not the first time I have had to deal with him this year on this issue. Unfortunately he has been kind of "mean" to a really good friend of mine's son. I don't know if it is better or worse for it to be one of my FRIEND'S son. To make a long story short, I told my husband that he was going to have to deal with this because I was so angry and knew I wouldn't handle the situation appropriately. So my husband told me to put him in his room when he got home from school and he would deal with it. Sounds like a great idea, right? Well, I'm not really sure what happened to me. Apparently, the devil invaded my body, and the minute my son walked in the door all happy and smiley (with his front big tooth missing, no less), I lost it. He asked me if he could go play at his friend's house and I responded with "are you kidding me? Do you want to tell me what happened at school?" He really had no clue what I was talking about.......but about 20 minutes later, after hearing me RANT AND RAVE at him, he was in tears, and my 13 yr. old informed me I had probably scarred him for life. I won't go into all of the details, but why did I have to act like that? I knew that would happen and had even made precautions against it, but unfortunately there I was...screaming and acting like a mad woman......certainly not "letting my light shine" to my gap-toothed little 7-yr-old. My brother had told me recently that he thought his life verse was probably Rom. 7:15 "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." So, there you have it, I was doing exactly what I did not want to do.

And now I have Dr. Phil in my head saying "it will take a 1000 'atta-boys' to make up for that one screaming incident". So, anyways, I guess my point is that Matt. 5:16 is what I would like my mission statement to be, but I am just a sinful human and Rom. 7:15 is probably more like it!

My First Blog Entry

This is my first entry.